The Tribune Impact: CBI opens enquiry in case of banned athlete using forged documents to compete

The Central Bureau of Investigation has opened a preliminary enquiry (PE) in a case where one particular athlete was able to generate three different Unique IDs (UID) to participate in events despite serving a doping suspension.

Sachin Poswal, who is serving a four-year ban till 2028, has been successful in hoodwinking the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) by using fake documents, including Aadhaar cards, to take part in two Delhi state meets and the National Junior (U20) Federation Athletics Championships.

The Tribune had carried three articles titled ‘Suspended athlete participates in Delhi meet, AFI clueless’ (June 18, 2024), ‘Athlete under suspension gets new ID, takes part in Delhi cross-country championship’ (January 5, 2025) and ‘Banned athlete hoodwinks federation for third time’ (June 24, 2025) after which the AFI had registered a complaint at the Naraina police station.

On Tuesday, the CBI had asked the AFI to submit all documents submitted by Sachin, including Aadhar cards and other IDs used to generate fresh UIDs. It is understood that the AFI has already submitted all the documents in this case.

Despite being suspended, Sachin was able to get his hands on a different UID from the AFI. In the first instance, Sachin submitted his Aadhar card (958561257932) showing his date of birth as 01.03.2006 and was issued UID No. ADLM200110 in June 2024. His date of birth, surname and father’s name changed in the new Aadhar card submitted to get another UID to take part in the Delhi cross-country championship where he finished third in the U-20 8 kilometres run in December 2024. He participated as Sachin Gurjar then.

He finally changed his name to Rachin Gujjar and took part in the National Junior (U20) Federation Athletics Championships in Prayagraj in June 2025, where he topped his preliminary heat in 1500m with a timing of 3:56.53 and finished 16th in 3000m. However, the result sheet was updated that showed him as a disqualified athlete after this correspondent had reached out to the AFI.

Sachin’s old ID mentioned his date of birth as March 3, 2006, while his father’s name was Rambabu Poswal. The new one (ADLM122467) stated his date of birth as January 9, 2007, and his father’s name as Rambabu Gurjar.

Adille Sumariwalla, the former AFI president and now spokesperson, welcomed the development and said this was a first big step towards fighting against the doping menace.

“We have zero tolerance against age fraud and doping. The moment I got to know about this case, I asked the AFI office to file a police complaint. I have egged NADA and a few other offices to push for a CBI enquiry. This is only the start and I wish some people go to jail for such offences. Criminalisation is the only deterrence,” Sumariwalla told The Tribune on Saturday.

“The federation has no power to prosecute. We can only report. We have this case of an Indian who is jailed in Kenya. Everyone knows that he is only a courier. We have to catch those who have been pushing substances like this. All the CBI needs to do is to catch two or three people and the truth will come out. After all, our country’s name is at stake,” he added.